Unemployment hits new record high

Unemployment in Spain has hit a new record high with 5,639,500 people out of work at the end of March, that’s 24.4% of the total workforce. The figures were announced just after Standard & Poor’s downgraded Spanish sovereign debt by another two notches to BBB+.

Standard and Poor’s also warned that Spain might have to take on even more debt to support its banking sector.

In the first three months of the year, 365,900 people in Spain have lost their jobs and unemployed is expected to rise further during the rest of the year.

Earlier this week, the Bank of Spain said the economy contracted by 0.4% in first three months of this year, after shrinking by 0.3% in the final quarter of last year.

Other figures show that Spanish retail sales were down 3.7% in March from the same point a year ago, the 21st month in a row that sales have fallen.

The necessary austerity measures introduced in Spain to combat the recession have been widely seen by the ratings agencies, financial institutions and Eurocrats as a positive step forward but have been roundly condemned by the main unions which have organised widespread strikes and protests. All very helpful.

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